Stop at 00:04 What is she running from? Why is she running? What thoughts are running through her head at this point? Could you come up with a 3ed sentence to describe to the reader how she is feeling? How about a feeling, description sentence?

Stop at 00:26 – What is going through her mind at this point? What choices does she have? Why are the dogs/wolves chasing her? What has she done? Who do the dogs belong to?

00:40 – How come she can hold her breath for so long underwater?

01:20 – What could happen here? Why are the lights getting stronger?

01:41 – Is she going to survive? If so, how will she survive? Does she have any superpowers that will help her here? Make sure to look at and pause on all the different scenes. This would be a chance for some more Alan Peat sentence work.

01:46 – It’s a giant hand. Who does it belong to?

2:02 – What is she thinking at this time? How is she feeling? What is this thing that has saved her life? Why has it saved her life? How could we describe it?

Possible writing opportunitiesDiary as the girl in the videoWrite a story up until the girl is being chased at the start of the videoDescription of setting. Write the ending to the story, a what happens next.

Avicii - Wake me up!

Inspire writing with the latest big hit!

Pause and discuss tattoos/markings – what might they represent? Why do they both have them? (00:28)Who are they? What is the relationship between them? When they walk outside – compare and contrast their appearance compared with the ‘towns folk’Why are they staring at them?Pause at 01:12 – hot seat children as the 2 girls, as well as one of the people staring at them. Try to get more information about who they are and see what develops from there.Start again and see if the children can answer the little girl’s question – why don’t they like them?Start it again and watch the older girl arrive in the seemingly deserted city – why is she riding on a horse? Does she always ride on a horse? See if children can generate questions.Pause at 02:38 – why does she get in the car? Where do you think they are going?

Video gets a bit less useful here with the dancing bit but 03:12 onwards works well with girl returning to the end – overall idea that everyone belongs somewhere.

Possible writing opportunities:Diary entry as either girlAlternative ending once meets girl with the tattoo in the seemingly deserted city.Poetry inspired by opening minute – feelings of being unwanted through thoughts of the girls.Pupils could write what happened prior to the video – have they always lived there, why are they living alone, did something happen to parents etcCourtesy of @MrBirchICT

Chris Malinchak - So Good to Me

This video was the one that originally caught my attention to this idea. It is a lovely video and isn't a bad song either.

Watch the first 20 seconds - how is the girl feeling? What makes you think that? What might she be doing?

Pause just before a minute - how has the girl's feelings changed? Why do you think that is? What might she have lost? What could she do now that may help?

Pause again at 1.42 - Has the girl's feelings changed even more now? Why do you think that maybe?

Once the giraffe appears - are you shocked why? How does the girl feel now?

Write a description of the giraffe - what does it look like? smell? feel?

Blur - Coffee and TV

Another example is the classic from Blur - Coffee and TV (warning there is part of this video that may not be appropriate where the carton visits Big Suzi from 2.13-2.36)

I love this video, it is emotional, interesting and really funny. The video tells the story of a milk carton trying to find a missing son to reunite him with his family. The carton encounters numerous different challenges both good and bad but nothing stops him on trying to complete his mission.

Ask the children to write the journey of the milk carton in 1st person.

How does the carton's emotions change during his journey, what are his high points/low points?

What do you think the carton's view on people are? What evidence can you find to support that decision?

Show the children the screen from 3minutes to 3.30. Ask the children to write a atmospheric description of the setting.

Look at the interactions he has with different people, what may have been said?

Compare the feelings of the family at the beginning and the end, how do these differ and why?

Do you think the carton is happy at the end despite being in the trash? Why what makes you think this?

Ask the children to write similes and metaphors of objects that seem bigger/scarier to the carton.

Children could write another story of a journey of another inanimate object.

Mumford and Sons - Lover of the Light

A beautiful video! One that will hopefully make your class empathise with certain difficulties other people face.

Watch the first 20 seconds, what is emphasised - sound - ask the children why this maybe?

After watching the video ask what the children what they noticed about the main character? Hopefully they will pick up on the fact he is blind, ask them for clues about how they knew this?

Look at all the different things he touches, make a list and try to describe the different textures he feels.

Write in first person as the main character, try to describe his day however restrict the description to everything except sight. Challenge the children to think about how they can describe aspects of his day without mentioning what things look like.

Interview the character - who does he speak to? Why is he happy when he is outside? What makes him run through the forest?

Zedd - Stache

I love the mystery of this video. The man is working on something which is obviously top secret - but what is it?Discussion Points and Possible Writing Activities

Stop at 00:07 – describe the man you see. What super sentences can the children come up with to describe the man? What can we tell by his looks? What might he be about to tell everyone?

Stop at 00:09 – Who is this guy? What might he be doing?

Stop at 00:13 – What is he trying to do? (Children will come up with lots of suggestions here – run with a few and develop an oral story with the class – will they predict what he is actually doing?)

Stop at 00:21 – Why do the armed people want him? Are they police? Why is his location so hidden? What might all the piece of paper on the floor contain? Why is there no-one there to help him?

Stop at 00:29 Are there any clues here as to what he might be trying to do in this shot? Do the children think he is a good guy or a bad guy?

Stop at 00:59 What happens next? How is he feeling at this point? (Why do you think that?)

Stop at 01:03 What might the blue light be? Run with childrens suggestions again running with an oral story and perhaps adding in an ending that they can think of. Referring back to the fact that some people are trying to find him urgently. Stop at 01:37 – What went wrong? Why won’t it work? What has he done wrong and what could he do to make it right again (this could lead to talk about persevering etc) – Can you think of an explanation that you could give him so he gets it right? How is he feeling at this point? What would you do at this point?

Stop at 01:47 – Why is this man back again?

Stop at 02:40 – What is he thinking at this point?

Stop at 02:53 – What happens next? Get the children to predict an ending to the video or even act one out. What will the blue light produce? Is it a new superpower? Is it the key to everlasting energy? Let their creative minds go free!

Stop at 03:14 – Now do we know why that man is on TV – What might he be saying to the public? Children could write a short speech about the blue flame/light and highlight their concerns to the public about it.

Stop at 03:50 Can the children explain what is happening (as creatively as possible). Follow up with what is going to happen next? What is the blue flame going to do?

Possible TasksCan the children write a newspaper report about the event?Write a diary from the scientists point of view?Can they write an explanation of how the machine works?Write the ending to the story (stopping at 02:53)Write a script to perform as the head of security addressing the public.Write a police report about the event.Write a non-chronological report about the blue light/flame. + Lots of creative thinking and discussion. Get their imaginations running wild!You could also hotseat the children as the scientist to delve further into their imaginations.For more of my ideas please visit my blog www.fabtasticteachingideas.wordpress.com or follow me on twitter @shaunh0pper

Porter Robinson - Language

I used this powerful video to complete our unit on diary writing with my y6 class. The events in the video and the chance to think deeply about all sorts of feelings lend it very well to diary writing. Before writing we got our creative juices flowing with the following... Stop at 00:04 What is she running from? Why is she running? What thoughts are running through her head at this point? Could you come up with a 3ed sentence to describe to the reader how she is feeling? How about a feeling, description sentence?Stop at 00:06 Do a vocab boost to describe the woodlands. Similes, adjectives etcStop at 00:26 – What is going through her mind at this point? What choices does she have? Why are the dogs/wolves chasing her? What has she done? Who do the dogs belong to?00:40 – How come she can hold her breath for so long underwater?0:50 – What could the flashing lights be? 01:20 – What could happen here? Why are the lights getting stronger? 01:41 – Is she going to survive? If so, how will she survive? Does she have any superpowers that will help her here? Make sure to look at and pause on all the different scenes. This would be a chance for some more Alan Peat sentence work.01:46 – It’s a giant hand. Who does it belong to?2:02 – What is she thinking at this time? How is she feeling? What is this thing that has saved her life? Why has it saved her life? How could we describe it?2:50 – What happens next?For more of my ideas please visit my blog www.fabtasticteachingideas.wordpress.com or follow me on twitter @shaunh0pper

Emile Sande - Free

Contributed by Hannah Bones - Y5 Teacher in Sheffield - Twitter @hannahjoseyb From the heights of a tower block in London, to the top of a snowy mountain, this video takes you on one man's journey to be free. Featuring real life wing suit extreme sports athlete Jokke Sommer.I paused during the first bullying scene which is pretty much straight away and discussed how he was feeling etc. We then paused when the boy is watching the bird and thought about what he was thinking/ why he watched it so much/ why it was inspiring him. Then we discussed the parallel of the boy walking up the stairs and the man walking up the mountain and the kids suggested that it was showing that it was the same person because they were mirroring each others movements. Just before he jumps off the mountain, we thought about why the video was jumping from the little boy to the man and the kids started to discuss flashbacks and that he was escaping all these feelings by jumping off. We discussed how he must have felt actually jumping and the comparison to the bird. And then, finally, how he felt at the very end i.e. relieved.

I would say it's good for flashback and flash-forward writing but the teacher would have to really choose a specific scene for the chn as it jumps forward and backward lots. But, it's also really good for discussing feelings, bullying, and also the kids came up with some really great similes and metaphors.

Other possible ways to use this.Find out about the man in the video (Jokke Sommer) What was his real life like as a child?Use it to create adjective / simile banks of words to describe feelings.